


Garnet

by h_pw



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Blind Date, F/F, Fluff, Online Dating, Red Beauty Week, Ruby/Lacey prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-17
Updated: 2015-09-17
Packaged: 2018-04-21 06:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4819235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h_pw/pseuds/h_pw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belle, bored, curious, and possibly a little drunk, signs up to a dating app under the fake name Lacey, where she meets someone calling themselves Garnet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Garnet

**Author's Note:**

> My wife recently developed an obsession with OUAT so I'm kinda new to the fandom and couldn't resist having a crack at one of the Red Beauty week prompts, so enjoy!  
> Usual disclaimer of I don't own anything just playing around with fictional characters for my own amusement :-)

Belle in sat in The Rabbit Hole slowly drinking a Long Island ice tea, it’s not quite as nice as its non-alcoholic version but she’s too nervous to try and drink anything stronger.  She swirls the straw around the glass and tries to relax, or at least tries to look more relaxed and not like she’s a nervous wreck waiting and watching the door for her date to walk in.

She’s having second thoughts.  Maybe she should order a stronger drink, or maybe she should go home and get changed, the short blue sequin dress she’s wearing was an impulse decision, maybe signing up to a dating app wasn’t such a good idea after all, but she’d been looking for adventure.  Things had ended with Rumple and now he’s off on some sacrificial redemption mission in Neverland and she’s been left behind once again. 

Moving on with her life had seemed like a sensible idea, a new chapter, an adventure.  What had possessed her to download a dating app one night she wasn’t sure, boredom and curiosity at this new technology perhaps, the idea that she could reinvent herself, be someone more out there and extrovert, probably more likely it was that last glass of wine and being sat alone in her apartment.

She hadn’t known what to expect, the dating pool in Storybrooke couldn’t be that extensive could it?  Then again so many people and characters were still hidden away or busy getting on with their lives.  Not everything revolved around the Charmings and Regina.  Still using her own name or uploading a picture wasn’t an option, this was supposed to be an adventure and she wasn’t going to get anywhere by being Belle, the Dark One’s ex, and listing her hobbies as reading and drinking iced tea at Granny’s.  The name Lacey comes to her and it spirals from there, the extremes of her personality populate the profile, well-travelled, out-going, looking for adventure and fun.

Within a few minutes her phone buzzes and she swipes hastily past the first dozen ‘hits’ and messages, wishing she could un-see some of the explicit words and images, before her finger stops and hovers over a simple ‘Hi’.

The profile draws her in further, an unusual name ‘Garnet’, there’s no picture, but there’s a Jules Verne quote, and adventurous hobbies like spending time outdoors and running in the woods, they’re a few years younger than her, and they’re ‘female’. 

Oh. 

Belle pauses for a moment because this isn’t a scenario she’d thought of, she’d kind of assumed it would just be men contacting her, other options hadn’t really entered her mind.  She mulls over the idea for a moment and she finds that her brain doesn’t dismiss it, the idea intrigues her, and it would appear she’s not closed off to the whole thing and quickly sends a ‘Hi’ back in response before she loses her nerve.

She doesn’t get much sleep that night, messages flying back and forth, until the first rays of morning sunlight start to peek around Belle’s curtains and her and Garnet sign off with a promise to talk again later.

_We should meet._

Belle bites the side of her thumb as she reads the message, she’d been thinking the same thing, that tentative hi had given way to countless message conversations over the last week.  Lacey’s profile has received other messages and while Belle had responded to some they quickly fizzle out and she’d swiped past them, Garnet being the only that kept her interest.  The desire to meet in person, to see if the spark in their online conversations existed in real life, in physical form, had been growing but she’d not known how to broach the subject.  Despite the extremes of her profile she’d gone into this still very much as Belle, not wanting to mislead or deceive too much, and the ease of talking to Garnet had meant that she’d already shared some of her nerves and inexperience.  The ping of her phone draws her out of her thoughts.

_Sorry is that too much, too soon?_

_No! No, just got lost in my head a little.  I’ve been thinking the same thing.  I’m just nervous I’ve not done this before?_

_The girl thing?_

_No, well yes, I mean more the meeting a stranger I’ve met through an app thing._

_Am I still a stranger?_

_Depends, if we meet am I going to be greeted by a balding, elderly man?_

_*looks down shirt* Oh look breasts!  Nope definitely still a woman ;)_

Belle finds herself laughing at Garnet’s virtual antics and feeling reassured by the ease of their interactions.  This was supposed to be something new, uncharted territory, she can’t turn around at the last hurdle, and to be honest she doesn’t want to.

So now here she is sat in The Rabbit Hole in a dress she can’t stop pulling the hemline of and picking at sequins nervously every time the door opens, waiting for a woman to walk in with a yellow rose.  ‘It means ‘new beginnings’ and also how else are you going to know it’s me’ Garnet had reasoned.

She’s looking around trying to find anything to occupy and distract her mind, the soft 80’s rock on the jukebox, the odd shapes of the slowly melting ice in her drink, the bartender wiping down the bar and restocking the fridge of beers.  For all her efforts the sound of the door opening instantly catches her attention and her head whips up to ascertain who has entered to see Ruby holding a yellow rose.

There’s a mish mash of thoughts and feelings that assault Belle’s brain, all conflicting and confused, as she watches Ruby slowly scan the bar and it’s not like there are many women in here tonight, certainly none of them are wearing the blue that Lacey had informed Garnet she’d be wearing.  Ruby’s eyes finally find her and it’s difficult to read the other girl’s expression and feelings when her own are running so rampant, it leaves them just staring at each other, and what is she supposed to do now?  Leave?  Stay?  Pretend this never happened?  Talk?

The sound of Ruby clearing her throat draws her attention back to the other girl and the present.  Ruby’s now stood just a few feet away from her, slowly twirling the rose between her fingers as she gives Belle a gentle wicked smile.

‘Lacey, right?”

Belle’s still a little unsure about all of this but she appreciates Ruby’s attempt to break the awkwardness and decides to follow the other girls lead, managing a nod in response because everything’s too tense for her to find her voice right now. 

“Hi, I’m Garnet.”  Ruby tops off her introduction with a broad smile as she holds out the rose.  Belle reaches for the flower and their fingers brush as she takes it, the contact sparking something and it’s like a wave of warmth settles over her and sweeps away the tension and worry.  She feels a smile tug at her own lips, she’d asked for an adventure and this will certainly be an interesting one.

“Hi.”


End file.
